


Falling Backward

by QueenyB



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25593061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenyB/pseuds/QueenyB
Summary: Once upon a time, Uzura was the villain the Phantom Marionette, famous for completing the world's trickiest heists. One day, she falls off a building, loses her memory, and regresses to the form of a toddler. She is found and adopted by Fakir, a young man who is secretly a hero.{PTonic 2020}
Relationships: Fakir & Uzura (Princess Tutu)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: PTonic Week 2020





	Falling Backward

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. I wrote this little one-shot for PTonic Week 2020 for the theme Justice. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with this, but I like how this turned out. I hope you enjoy it as well.

She was too late. She jumped too high, went too far to the left, and she was falling. She threw out strings, line after line of wire, but nothing caught, nothing held. Nothing was going to catch her, certainly not the so-called hero she’d been fighting. She closed her azure eyes and waited for the inevitable. 

#

“How is she?” a voice rumbled quietly. The girl heard the doctor mumble a reply, but most of it went over her head. 

“Ehh…” she whined. The curtain whooshed open and she saw a young man with bright green eyes and dark hair walk in. “Who are you, zura?” 

The man opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a woman in a white lab coat stepped over and introduced herself as Doctor Duck. She smiled brightly and her hair sky blue eyes put the girl at ease. The young man was named Fakir, and he was the one who found her and brought her to the hospital. 

“What’s your name?” the doctor asked. 

The girl cocked her head. “I don’t know, zura. Do you know, zura?”

“I don’t know either, can I call you Uzura?” 

The girl clapped her small hands together happily. “I like that, zura!” 

“Why Uzura?” the man asked, positioning himself at the foot of the bed. 

The doctor scratched her head. “Well, she kept saying ‘zura’ and it sounds like Uzura. Besides, it’s a cute name, don’t you think so, Uzura?” 

The girl nodded. 

“Okay, I’m going to take your vitals now, Uzura. Stay still, okay?” 

“Okie dokie, zura.” 

She worked very hard to sit perfectly still as Doctor Duck checked her heart, her lungs, her muscles, and everything else. 

#

Uzura had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks. At first, it was because she had a head injury and it wasn’t safe for her to leave, then it was because she didn’t have any guardians step forward to take her home. In the end, she was allowed to go home with Fakir, who she’d grown quite fond of, and he would keep an eye on her while they worked to figure out who she was. 

“And this is your room,” he said, opening the door. The room was simple, a bed, a dresser, some toys stacked on top of a small toy box, including a bright red drum that Uzura immediately grabbed and proceeded to bang on. 

“I’m across the hall,” Fakir continued, smiling at her enthusiasm, “and Karon’s room is next to mine.” 

“Is that all, zura?”

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“You and Doctor Duck are such good friends, zura. I thought you lived together, zura.” 

She watched quietly as his face turned bright red. “We are friends, yes, but not all friends live together,” he explained after a moment. 

“Oh… I see, zura.” 

She walked over and hugged his leg, barely coming up to his thigh. Fakir smiled quietly and stroked her mint-green hair. 

“We’re friends, aren’t we, zura?” 

“Absolutely.” 

#

Every night, Uzura heard a soft whistle going away, and every morning she was roused from sleep by the whistle returning. She had turned Fakir's room over, expecting to see a bird or a fairy. Instead, all she found was a brown cape hanging in the closet and a sword strapped to the bottom of the bed. 

When she found it, she frowned. Something about the blade made her feel angry, but she didn’t know why, so she left it alone. Then she went to ransack Karon’s room, though she didn’t find the whistle there either.

#

_ She was falling. Faster and faster. She could see the asphalt rushing to meet her. Then, a gust of wind wrapped around her tall, thin body. She slowed, but she still cracked her head hard. It felt like her brain was trying to escape her cranium.  _

_ She couldn’t hold her transformation anymore and let it slide away.  _

_ “Hey!” a voice echoed through the darkness. _

#

“Hey!” Fakir called, shaking Uzura’s little body. “Wake up.” 

Uzura rolled over and pulled the blanket up to her chin. “I’m still sleepy, zura.” 

“We have errands to run, Uzura. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” 

Uzura listened as his footsteps disappeared down the hall before she sat up and blearily rubbed her eyes. She stood up on her bed, bounced a few times, and jumped off, landing hard on the wood floor. The impact stung her feet and made her wince, and her heart was beating rapidly. 

She grinned broadly and climbed back on the bed. That was so fun! Why was she so afraid in her dream? One, two, three, jump! 

Her stomach jumped into her throat, her hair flew up, and she squealed at the weightless feeling as she plummeted to the ground. Her feet hit the wood, a little harder this time, but she rolled and giggled. As she stood up, prepared to crawl back onto the bed, she spotted Fakir in the doorway, huffing and glaring at her. 

“That’s enough, Uzura. Get dressed,” he said. 

Shy, Uzura slipped behind the bed. “Okay, zura.” 

#

It happened when they were walking down the street and heard a grunt down an alley. Fakir told Uzura to stay on the sidewalk, but she couldn’t resist looking down the corridor. 

Fakir walked slowly, quietly down the alley until he found a large man mugging someone just behind the dumpster. The thug lashed out, expecting to have the advantage. Fakir dropped to a crouch and aimed for the thug’s acupuncture points. Strike. Strike. Dodge. Strike. His movements were swift and fluid. 

Uzura couldn’t take her eyes away. He looked beautiful and strong, but also very familiar. 

As Fakir continued to take down the thug, Uzura imagined him dressed in the cape and sweeping through an army of goons. 

“I’ve seen this, zura,” she murmured. 

_ Too far, she jumped too far _ . 

“I fell, zura…” 

_ Her heart jumped into her throat as she felt the air whoosh past her. _

“I got hurt, zura…” 

_ A sharp cackle echoed through the museum, her cackle.  _

Tears pricked at her eyes and began to flow down her cheeks. “I was… bad, zura?” 

“Uzura?” Fakir said, returning. The thug was restrained to a utility pole and the man he was attacking was propped against the building while they waited for the police to arrive. “Uzura, what’s wrong? Were you scared?” 

Uzura shook her head and wiped at her eyes. “I- I- I’m bad, zura.” 

Fakir wrapped his arms around Uzura and pulled her tightly to his chest. “You’re not bad, Uzura. You were very good just now. You listened very well.” 

Uzura shook her head. “N-no, before, zura. I was bad before, zura.” 

Fakir tilted his head to the side. “Shhh, it’s okay, Uzura.” 

“I don’t wanna go, zura,” she cried. 

“I’ve got you,” Fakir whispered, running a hand through her hair.

#

The memories came slowly, over many years, a heist here, a fight there, then the realization that Fakir was the one she was fighting when she fell. 

Once Upon a Time, she'd been the Phantom Marionette, the world's best art thief. She walked out with DaVinci, Johannes Vermeer, and Monet. Statuettes disappeared like smoke, and antique clothes became excellent additions to her personal collection. However, once she became small, and got her second chance, she found that she didn't want to steal anymore, she wanted to create. 

Like Karon, who made tools and furniture; like Fakir, who made stories; even Duck created, in her own little way. Uzura liked to work with beads and string, so she learned to make jewelry. Small things at first, simple necklaces and bracelets, but as she grew she learned to do more.

And so, as she sat on the porch, enjoying a warm cup of tea, she was glad that she chose differently this time. Glad she chose her family. 


End file.
